The Episcopal Church of the USA chose a downtown Austin block as the site for a future Archives building as a means to demonstrate the Church’s on-going commitment to social justice and civic presence. The prominent location and high visibility of the site serve to provide all citizens with a space/place to gather, while giving the Church a building that is an icon of its connectedness to the community as a whole. Key to that vision was a project with a diversity of uses that would represent a microcosm of Austin itself.

The block is made up of several components, intricately pieced together to maximize the usability of the site. These components are: an Archives building, two office buildings, underground parking, ground floor retail and the Residential tower. A Capitol View corridor over most of the site, and surrounding sites, allows only a small corner could extend upwards beyond 5 floors. The project team recognized what would normally be a hindrance to development as perfect opportunity for multi-family, thus fulfilling the client’s principles. Our Client was very excited to be able to include housing and intends it to serve those typically underserved in the Austin Community.